The present invention relates generally to the field of urinal devices coupled to an existing toilet and more specifically relates to a modified toilet tank that serves as a fold-down urinal and fully functioning standard toilet in one to provide a more effective and clean method for males to use the toilet when urinating.
While toilets are an important necessity, many consumers who live in households with male children, teens, or adults find that this most useful amenity has several drawbacks. Specifically, men and boys alike can forget to raise the toilet seat before using the facilities, and even if they do raise the seat, conventional toilets do not provide the most optimal system for male urination from both a hygienic point of view, as well in terms of water conservation.
The usage of commodes and urinals are known in the art. Generally, it has been common practice to provide a water tank incorporating a flushing device in association with a commode to help dispose of contents within a toilet bowl and down a drainpipe. The toilet bowl typically includes a seat and a lid attached thereon and is supported by a base. A base plate is normally mounted onto a floor in order to securely support the base of the toilet. In contrast, a standard urinal includes a urinal bowl and a flushing apparatus attached to the bowl. A urinal-rinsing line is positioned within the bowl to release water through rinsing apertures. Here, when the flushing apparatus is activated, water cascades downward into the bowl and down a drainline in order to refresh the bowl for subsequent usage. However, these standard commodes and urinals, as two separate entities, have necessitated substantial special requirements and have promoted excess water utilization during the flushing processes.
Several attempts have been made to redesign such combination urinal and toilet units in order to provide direct drainage from a urinal into the drain hole of a commode. An example of these devices is a urinal device having a urinal bowl that is supported adjacent to a toilet. The bowl includes an outlet drain to which an outlet drain line is connected in order to directly drain into the drain line rather than into the toilet bowl. Preferably, the urinal bowl includes a bowl-rinsing line affixed to the conventional bowl flushing and filling assembly so that whenever the toilet is flushed, the urinal bowl is rinsed. However, such system is complicated by requiring a separate urinal bowl adjacent to the toilet bowl, and does not address water conservation efforts.
Accordingly, a need exists for a reliable urinal device that serves as a urinal and fully functioning standard toilet in one to provide a more effective and hygienic way for males to use the toilet when urinating.